The congruent number problem

Abstract

In Mathematics, especially number theory, one often comes across problems which arise naturally and are easy to pose, but whose solutions require very sophisticated methods. What is known as ‘The Congruent Number Problem’ is one such. Its statement is very simple and the problem dates back to antiquity, but it was only recently that a breakthrough was made, thanks to current developments in the Arithmetic of elliptic curves, an area of intense research in number theory.